DC Rally - Post your stories here, DUers!

[AWD]

Just wanted to check in before I get some needed sleep.....I'm home finally!

50 DUers (and significant others) attended...compared to the 15 freepers, mind you (oh, and there were MORE cops lined up protecting them than there were actual freepers). I met a TON of wonderful people, and I finally got to meet several DUers I have been looking forward to shaking hands with.

Prolesunited, thank you for organizing this. Your efforts did not go unappreciated.

Some DU highlights.......

jonnyblitz managed to piss off all the freepers with his sign directed towards them (a middle finger with the words "Hey Freepers").

Youngred, mountainlaurel, liberalhistorian (and her son, the "one-post wonder" shrubhater) all marched with me AND we managed to stick together.

I nearly killed LynneSin by hugging her....the balloon she was carrying got kinda trapped between us. Sorry Lynne.

Veganwitch delivered the best line of the day to the "God Hates You" people. They accused us of planning to go home and get drunk. VW reminded them that she was "already drunk, thank you very much".

Nostamj handed out '?W' buttons (but we all knew he would do that. Keep it up!)

And finally, boilerbabe captured my heart. I had a great time with you, BB. Miss you already.

There were TONS of other stories, and I know I forgot to mention many many DUers. Post your stories in this thread!

[wtmusic]

1. Sounds like a great time

Wish I coulda been there. Thank you all for making it happen.

[thebigidea]

2. I was slightly weirded out...

by the constant flood of FBI, Police, and Weird Media who kept swarming around and asking "who are you affiliated with? whose side are you on?" like a bad spy movie.

[Clark Can WIN]

3. kick

[bowens43]

4. It was nice to be able to some DUers!

I was able to meet several people at the designated corner but soon became lost in the excitement of the event. It was my 21 year old daughter's first rally so she wanted to keep moving. We wandered the crowd watching the people. We were amazed at the diversity. People from all walks of life. People with something to say, people who demand to be heard. People living their politics, taking to the street , walking the walking as well as talking the talk.

Some highlights:

Meeting the DUers!!
Al Sharpton! A powerful speaker , as always!
Code Pink's banner on the march route!
The protestwarrior assholes getting moved out by DC's finest!
The low freeper turnout!
The free burritos!!
TONs of information!

And of course , the thousands of concerned citizens who turned out to voice their opposition to the regime, it's policies and the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

[RebelOne]

5. You forget to mention the Raging Grannies

They were awesome!

[bowens43]

6. You're right!

They were awesome! They always are!

[proud patriot]

15. Speaking of the Raging Grannies

Does anyone have the text of their songs .
I want to learn them and sing them :-)

[Mari333]

19. Here is their website

http://www.raginggrannies.com/

click on songs they are there hahaha

[proud patriot]

26. Great ...Thanks Marri333

:loveya: Woooo Hooooo

[AWD]

46. Mari....I forgot!

When the Families of Military took the stage, we all sent love your way.

[WoodrowFan]

73. The protestwarrior assholes getting moved out by DC's finest!

Huh? Another RW group??

[rbnyc]

7. How many people were there?

I heard tens of thousands and dozens of busses. What's the real scoop? Thanks.

[AWD]

8. 75,000-100,000

End of the march we began the chant of "100 thousand"

Organizers stated at the end that it was 75,000-100,000.

They estimated that 30 grand would show up, we tripled that.
Freepers said 1,000 would show up, they brought 15. Is there a fraction that low in the world of math??

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

[rbnyc]

14. Thanks for the info. (nt)

[JohnKleeb]

9. ok

I met youngred at Foggy Bottom and we walked from there

Then we met up with you all, and Prolesunited regonized me immeditatly

I met jonny, his sister, and others and I loved his sign

and after the protest well if you havent heard AWD I was an idiot and forgot to call my parents so I was hanging out and shit and admittingly I drank and smoked, and had some good pizza. I am embarassed as hell about that. I felt like such an idiot. Other than the end of the day the day was great.

[AWD]

10. I missed hearing about that....

....did you get into much trouble?

If all is well with your parents, then just let it go. Nobody I know would ever think you were an idiot.

More than a handful of people told me yesterday that they think you provide some of the most stimulating conversations on DU.

[JohnKleeb]

11. Yah all is good with my parents

Tell em thanks. I had a good time yesterday, and boy oh boy was Bertucci's good. My parents arent that mad, like disappointed in me and shit. I did realize though and with a :) that I can hide my liquor in mouth good. *groans* I had better not have a hangover. How was the ride home? Musta had been scenic. I dont wanna talk about that little incident from last night, already embarassing enough. I just feel bad.

[DancingBear]

12. A big thanks to AWD

for telling me I looked younger than I am!! ): ):

edit: should have been :) :) - still tired!

[qanda]

13. I had a GREAT time!

I brought my sister and my two children.

My highlights:

Having my children excited to participate in what we thought was a wonderful exercise of democracy.

Meeting a few of my fellow DUers. Sorry I didn't get to stick around with you guys (the kids just couldn't keep up).

My son's excitement about being on C-SPAN. We taped it last night and had to watch him over and over and over again.

The man dressed up like George Bush with bloody hands and a big globe. He was scary!

Hearing the families of our troops, especially the father who lost his son in Iraq.

Hearing my daughter, who was being interviewed by someone, say that Mom didn't make her come to the rally and she wanted to be there. Later she told me, "This rally is great!" My daughter is five.

Telling some of the cops that we are related to Chief Ramsey and seeing the look on their faces (classic)!

Being around thousands of like-minded people who were old and young, White and Black, native and foreign, rich and poor. Made me think that I wasn't so crazy after all.

Lowlights:

Coming back and reading the posts on DU which made me think that everything that we had just done was not really an exercise in democracy but really an exercise in futility.

On Edit: Spelling!

[goobergunch]

16. HOMEWORK IS EVIL!

My mom told me yesterday that I could have gone if there wasn't school on Monday. F*cking last week of the quarter....:grr:

[screembloodymurder]

17. I loved the signs......

so creative. The South Korean marching (dancing) band was awesome. Their energy infused the whole crowd. And who were those people with a 50' sign on the 10th floor?

[DancingBear]

18. They're known as "Code Pink" n/t

[screembloodymurder]

20. Thanks

I'll have to look them up.

[nostamj]

22. link

http://www.codepink4peace.org/

[nostamj]

21. nostamj in DC

nostamj in DC

my decision to join the 10/25 rally and march was a last-minute one. It was prolesunited organizing a DU contingent that inspired me to make the trip from NYC.

it meant an early Saturday morning but my friend (a DU lurker) and I managed to be up and ready for a 7am train out of Penn station. He read David Corn’s book while I continued with Molly Ivin’s ‘Bushwhacked’ during the 3+ hour trip. The train was scheduled to reach Union Station by 10:20 which would give us enough time to get to the meet-up location before 11, but it was about 30 minutes late.

Fortunately we were able to get a cab–with another passenger who was not pleased to be taken out of his way (DC has very strange rules about cabs!), but he turned out to be a sympathetic Dem and ended up with two chapters of Bev’s BBV book and other reading recommendations.

We found the spot in time and were greeted by KG and prolesunited and led to the DU group’s spot.

It was FRONT ROW CENTER... bravo proles and the advance team! I managed to find a spot to sit near liberallibrarian, her son, and Oaf of Office. AWD and boilerbabe were nearby. youngred and and JohnKleeb were nearby but (damn) never did get a chance to chat with either of them.

There were too many speakers and the speeches were too short to have much substance. And yes, there were off-topic/fringe speakers. A very big tent I guess.

Highlights:

Sharpton and Ramsey Clark, predictably, were terrific and the crowd loved them.

The MOST powerful moment, for me, was the father who spoke in Spanish (with a translator) about the loss of his son in Iraq. I was so close that I could see him in the moments before he took the mike. He looked terrified and crossed himself before stepping up. And then, he just RANTED with such passion, such pain, such rage.... HUGE ovation. And, if my reaction is any indication, many tears.

The Raging Grannies were great fun. I’d love to find out how to reach them. I’ve got some killer parody lyrics for them!

IMHO, Free Mumia activists have no place at an anti-bush/anti-occupation rally.

I was also a bit dismayed at the aggressive socialists/communists distributing literature. I thought the event was about DEMOCRACY....

Military Families Speak Out made a strong presentation, even if their speaker got a bit flustered.

Overall, the speeches were on message: anti-bushco, anti-war, anti-occupation, as was most of the signs I saw. (I was esp. happy to see TWO MoPaul images in the Duers signs.)

The DU group entered the march together but quickly became splintered in the crowd. I had hoped to make a call to Guy James with proles but... I lost her somewhere around Freeperville. :shrug:

The energy was as beautiful as the weather, in spite of the ‘christian’ wackos and feeble turnout of Freepers.

The massive turnout of police was disturbing. These men and women were ready for action. Billyclubs at the ready everywhere. While I have since heard of one incident provoked by the Freepers–who were predictably vile as were the ‘christians’–the presence seemed way over the top given the peaceful mood of the marchers.

All things considered, even though my legs are killing me today, I’m very glad I went.

An event like this is about EMPOWERMENT of individual patriots, not just group statement or bringing pro-war citizens into the fold. Hopefully, the 10s of thousands who came together yesterday returned home with a greater sense of purpose and empowerment.

My greatest regret is not having the time to chat with more DUers. Next time, I’ll come earlier.

[JohnKleeb]

23. Wesley you mean Ramsey Clark

:D Yeah I saw you nos but shy I am and didnt say nothing, btw jonnyblitz was near me and Zack too.

[nostamj]

24. thanks! edited

(did I mention that I'm really really tired??)

anyway, understand the shy thing. I am too. always have been. even though I have NO problem getting up on stage, calling radio shows, etc... I had hoped to catch you in the march to say hello and give you a ? button, but you fell behind, and youngred got too far ahead... <sigh>

[JohnKleeb]

25. Yea me, jonny, vegan, boiler, and KG got behind

Yeah I am tired too, no doubt you may have heard about what happened. long story short I fucked up.

[nostamj]

27. nope, haven't heard a thing

except what you've posted... ;-)

[JohnKleeb]

28. long story short I am a dumb child lol

So yeah. Did you see Jonny's sign? WOW

[JanMichael]

30. Sounds like a great time!

One nitpick though...

"I was also a bit dismayed at the aggressive socialists/communists distributing literature. I thought the event was about DEMOCRACY...."

IMO Democratic Socialism IS Democratic. At least as much as the US is today:-)

[nostamj]

31. i will confess to ignorance on this subject

my concern is that these activists surrounded the main event and were everywhere during the march. anyone who did not know what was going on would walk away thinking it was a socialist/communist gathering based on the literature that was, as I said, aggressively distributed.

will need to educate myself on 'democratic socialism' though...

[JanMichael]

32. Honestly? When I was there last March 15th I was a bit put off by some....

...of the more authoritorian Leftists there. Needless to say if things ever got really nasty they'd probably want my head on a spike. Maybe not, but that's the impression that I got.

Other than being a registered Dem I'm also a SP-USA member http://sp-usa.org/about/principles.html

[JohnKleeb]

34. You can be a member of two parties

[JanMichael]

37. Probably not but I'm a little anarchistic so there!

Actually I tried looking up the Dem bylaws and didn't see any prohibitions. Maybe someone could enlighten me?

[goobergunch]

42. In New York you can be.... (n/t)

[JohnKleeb]

48. then take me to Noo Yak

:) take this dumb southerner.

[youngred]

68. I was dissapointed at not getting to talk with you as well

I had hoped to be able to meet you better. It will just have to wait until the next march then!

:hi:

[nostamj]

29. kick

gotta be some more stories out there....

[Blue_Tires]

33. fun

The highlights of the speakers were definitely sharpton and the mexican man whose son was KIA...

I don't have any real stories, as this was the first protest I ever attended, but I must say it felt wonderful to see that many people opposed to the war in iraq...I don't know the kinds of people others have to deal with on a daily basis, but in my case up until now I had never personally seen or heard anyone give any kind of vocal opposition to the war...to see so many thousands at once was great

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

35. Has anybody got any pictures?

If so, send them to GregW maybe he'll put them in the gallery for us.

[nostamj]

40. definitely!

i know prolesunited took a lot. i'm sure we'll be seeing them soon.

[DancingBear]

36. Before the march,

my wife and I were walking towards 17th and Constitution to meet up with the DU contingent. I was holding a sign ("Another Focus Group Against Bush") when we passed someone who said "Yea, that's it - let Saddam kill some more kids". I smiled back and said "Got Oxy?"

[catmandu57]

56. I think I saw you on the tube

or someone with a simular sign. It sounds like everyone had a great time.

[gristy]

38. Here's my story

I caught the ANSWER bus Friday night in Providence, RI at 11pm. Left a little late. Was a 55! seater! Oh, man. We were joking that if having our knees jammed into the seat in front of us for 8 hours made us hate Bush even more (didn't know it was possible), then that was a good thing. But boy was I envious of the ANSWER bus from Salem MA that I saw after we were dropped off: 44 seats!!

Got to the rally site real early (9 or 10) and wandered around, looked at the wares being set up on tables, and talked to lots of people. Met an activist lawyer from Minneapolis (I just moved from there) who does not work for a firm! I will be in touch with him about BBV...

Met Sharon and AWD at 10:30 and we walked to the spot staked out in front of the stage where I met many more DUers. But it was too loud for me and I wanted to keep walking around. During the speeches (or maybe before?) about 20 RW'ers showed up with these HUGE signs. They had amassed a block away and marched up into the group behind the stage. Tensions rose until ANSWER security pulled off a very impressive move. They had previously "deputized" a lot of people and put them in reflective vests. Well about 30-40 "deputies" surrounded the RW'ers, 2 rows deep and shoulder to shoulder, and then proceeded to shout/chant and "guide" them across the street, where the police then took over the job of keeping them separate from the rally. This defused the whole situation quickly. The shouting/chanting worked well to demoralize them and make them more amenable to being herded across the street. The effect was kind of like sheep to the barking of a shepherding dog.

Then came the march, and I walked alone (well, with 20K-30K others, actually) taking pictures (I took 122 photos) and talking to people. I had looked for the Duers, hoping they would have a sign but didn't see one and couldn't find them. I need some software to reduce the size of my photos before posting. Otherwise I'd give you some pics.

I hadn't written down the location of the DU party afterwards. Wish I had. One of the ANSWER buses (though not ours) had broken down and this was delaying the departure of all the buses in our group. I ended up taking Amtrak back to Providence. Much more comfortable and except for the expense ($80) would have been worth it.

[Pastiche423]

41. You can d/l free software

here:

http://www.showyourphotos.com/photoresizer_free.html

to resize photos.

Or google to find more.

[gristy]

51. You can now view some photos I took

here.

[bikebloke]

39. Pedalled in on my steed

I arrived late, around one-ish. And then arrived at the wonderful corner of Constitution and 17th. I decided to hang out there, rather than find my way around to the stage. The hate-mongers were really comedic. Especially calling marchers cowards, while barricaded behind a troop of police. I was hoping one of the horses would lift a tail and comment upon them.

[youngred]

43. Lets see

DUers are FANTASTIC PEOPLE

I'm really glad I got to meet all of you and discuss. I loved messing with the freepers, and listening to the speeches. I felt so energized and happy to be with all those people who feel the same way I do and are making a difference with their anger.

I loved hanging out with oaf of office and son, mountainlaurel, liberalhistorian, Kleeb, AWD, Prolesunited, johnnyblitz, boilerbabe, KG and everyone. You are all even cooler in person than online (which I thought to be impossible!).

Pictures to come!

[jonnyblitz]

55. It was nice meeting you youngred!

and good pics on the other thread ! :hi:

[youngred]

59. thanks!

the feeling is mutual. Have to get up Boston/NY way and join you for one there

[tokenlib]

44. Post-March pain and misery??

The body feels as if a freight train and I had an intimate moment. The bus ride back to mid-Michigan was ok, intermittant sleep, trying to get comfortable, rest stops to get liquid refreshment and snacks. And I got back to a horrific headache, the after-effects of emulating a human pretzel. And I never even had a beer.

And then I had to drive an hour and forty minutes through patches of thick fog--watching for Bambi--wishing I had Rush's connections to OXY--because my head was throbbing so bad.

My admiration to all who rode buses from Iowa, Minnesota, and other homes twice the distance from DC compared to mine. People really sacrifice to go to these events. Over half the effort is just getting there for these events--when you can go. Yet to see so much and so many expressions of dissent from such unique individuals and groups is a special experience.

It was great to meet Prolesunited, boilerbabe, Johnkleeb, AWD,liberalhistorian and all you other DUers. It really sucks not to remember so many names. Once again I had the pleasure of marching with OafofOffice, Deutsey, and so many others. Thanks for being there to everyone.

[John_H]

45. Nice meeting ya AWD and all the other DUers!

[AWD]

47. Back at you!

[goddess40]

49. I'm exhausted!

Our bus got lost going into DC, we were already behind due to mix up at pick up time.
I did get interviewed by Canadian Broadcast though. My mom and I were laying down but holding our flags up. They interviewed me while I was laying on the ground holding my peace flag. They just wanted to know if I was disapointed at the turn out and what I hoped would come from the protest.
We had a great time even though our bus broke down less than two hours from home.
I'm too tired to think clearly right now.

[jonnyblitz]

50. I will pass your msg on to my "housemate", Boilerbabe , AWD

since this thread will be long in the archives by the time she logs onto DU again! :hi: we had bus "issues" and didn't get back to CT until sunrise. She is a busy working girl this week.

[AWD]

57. Thank you!

I had SUCH a great time with everybody yesterday.

Any threads on FR about your sign????

[jonnyblitz]

58. I really don't care to look...

to be honest. I just know they were not pleased.

[CheshireCat]

52. Was great to meet so many DUers!

I was able to meet up with the DUer's for a while. Met AWD, JohnnyBlitz, elfinwitch, liberal libranian, and may others.

Sorry I couldn't stay with you folks, but I came with the SC contingent and needed to stay with them for most of the ralley.

Wanted to tell you about a disturbing incident after the ralley. 3 of us left the ralley after it ended and headed for the Ferderal Triangle to catch the metro. We really need to use the bathroom room.

In the plaza near the Metro entrance, I spotted a female security officer and asked her if there was a restroom we could use. She pointed us to the "Ronald Reagan Institute of Internation affairs (or international something else).

Well bopped across the plaza to the entrance. The three of us are in our 50's and were dressed in black tee shirts and jeans. We were carrying backpacks covered with buttons.

As we started to enter the door of this supposedly public building, we were immediately stopped by two security guards.

"You can't come in here like that!" said Security Guard #1. "You'll have to leave your signs outside.

"ok", we say. We then start moving to the door.

"No, no," say s Security Guard #2. "The buttons have to be out away. We do not allow political statements".

Well, we had to go really bad, so we removed all our buttons and put then away. The woman I was with started into the building after putting up her buttons only to be stopped again.

"What's that on your shirt?" says Security Guard #1.

Her shirt said, "Women for Peace."

Security Guard #1 said that she couldn't enter with a shirt containing a political message. I started getting pissed but my friend removed her shirt as she had another on under it. She walks in the door to go thru security. I followed her, but was stopped.

"No, no," says the security guard, "you've got a political message on your shirt, too."

I was surprised. I didn't think I had a political message on my shirt. Looking down, I realized the the message was "FREE SPEECH".
Appalled, I told the guard that the words "FREE SPEECH" were not a political statement, that they were one of the principles on which our country was founded. He told me to take it off and put it on wrongside-out. I didn't have anything under it, but I started to take it off. (Remember, we really had to pee.) The guard stopped me from taking off me shirt and acted like I couldn't come in.

Just then, my friend gave me her "Women for Peace" shirt and I put it on inside-out. They let us in and took their time putting us through security.

We finally made it to the bathroom.

I was really upset that I couldn't enter a public building in a tee shirt that had the words "Free Speech" on it.

What do other DUer's think?

[jonnyblitz]

53. hey cheshirecat! :)

It was nice meeting and talking with you! :hi: And as far as your story goes, it doesn't suprise me that it happened and I am sure you must know what I think of it all. :mad: Anyways glad to see you made it back to SC ok!

[nostamj]

54. "What do other DUer's think?"

this DUer thinks you learned something about living in Bush's america.

his america is FOR WAR

PEACE is TREASON

got it???

[nuxvomica]

60. I just got home two hours ago

We left for DC from upstate NY around midnight Saturday and drove through the wee small hours. Due to a few wrong turns and a failed attempt at early check-in at our hotel, we arrived too late for the DU meetup but got to the mall by 11:00 am. I had a DU sticker on my sign and along the way youngred found me and we chatted briefly. And your may recall I met you, AWD, as well. I wish I could have met more DU folks but the four of us had been more than 24 hours without sleep (not to mention our screaming bladders) and when the march finished we just crashed back at the hotel.

Our signs read:

mine: "FEAR WHAT LURKS BEHIND THE BUSHES"
morningtheft's: "DIEBOLD & BushCo: RAPING THE CONSTITUTION LIKE NOBODY'S BUSINESS"
wetoldyouso's: "OPERATION RESOURCE DEPLETION"
wetoldyouso's bro's: "DICK CHENEY BEFORE CHENEY DICKS YOU"

[JohnKleeb]

61. Rhiannon told me to look for you, but all she told me was your name

and that you were prematurely gray.

[nuxvomica]

62. Actually, I used to be prematurely gray but now I'm just gray :)

I was hoping to meet you, John, but, alas, it did not happen. Someday.
I'm sure I would have suggested you check in with your folks if I had met you. ;-) Did you carry a sign?

[Q]

63. Thanks to each and every one of you...

...who showed up to fight for our liberty.

- And...don't let all the negative comments from the NeoDems get you down. You did great.

[jonnyblitz]

64. oh...i know...i particularly liked the one in the other thread

that said we looked like a bunch of freaks!! Right wingers are everywhere....

[JohnKleeb]

67. Thanks Q

We marched through the streets oh it was so poetic and beautiful.

[AWD]

71. I do recall....

....but I forgot your screenname until you just now mentioned it.

There were 10 or so DUers I met whose screen names slipped my mind in all the excitement.

Sorry!

[youngred]

65. My promised pictures

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C98%3A%3B89nu0mrj
One of the speakers. All the flags in the background are the world flags on blue background. I thought it appropriate since the whole world stands against Bush

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3A883%3C8ot1lsi
The Families of servicemen

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3A8%3B%3A42ot1lsi
THE RAGING GRANNIES!! they were absolutely fantastic, wish I had a clip of their songs

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3A8%3C955ot1lsi
Al Sharpton, he spoke very very well. I liked his speech a lot

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3A93%3B5%3Bot1lsi
Viggo Mortensen

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C9%3A3%3A84nu0mrj
Viggo Again for the ladies

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C985865nu0mrj
Gen. Ramsey, before his speech

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3A8%3A5%3B4ot1lsi
A Marching we will go

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C998486nu0mrj
Up 17th Ave, by the old executive office building (on the left)

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C998999nu0mrj
The White House in hte background as we march by

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3A78562ot1lsi
Code Pink unfurled this sign along the march route. "Bush Lied. Fire Him" which then became a chant that lasted 2 blocks.

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C989%3C74nu0mrj
One of the younger protestors. Very cool on her parents!
(PS that's LynneSin in front there in the sweatshirt)

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3A83366ot1lsi
Along the route someone put this sticker on the eagle symbol. Quite effective I think. It says: President Bush is a Liar Medicare, Education, Taxes.

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C993775nu0mrj
One of the two counter-protestors. Note the sign saying GOD HATES YOU ABORTIONISTS, SODOMISTS, DRUNKARDS JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. Pleasant people, no?

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3A85%3B34ot1lsi
Marching down Pennsylvania Ave...This is what Democracy looks like

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A43%3B523232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C995865nu0mrj
Down Penn Ave towards the Capitol (MoutainLaurel in foreground!)

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A448723232%7Ffp8%3Enu%3D3237%3E9%3C9%3E3%3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323254%3C%3A64627nu0mrj

http://images.snapfish.com/338%3A448723232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3A%3B%3A%3D4%3B4%3DXROQDF%3E232345%3B%3B5656%3Bot1lsi

From the Left we have Oaf of Office's Son, Deutsy, Oaf of Office, JohnKleeb, prolesunited, MountainLaurel, and then kneeling is lizerdbits and KG

[JohnKleeb]

66. bloody ell I got red eye

[MountainLaurel]

69. Greetings from the belly of the beast

:hi:

I'm still buzzing (but aching and exhausted) over here in the DC area, thinking about the sight of those tens of thousands of people filling the streets to try to make a difference. Of course, the Shrub decided to make a trip to Camp David, so that he could cover his ears and say "nanny, nanny boo-boo, I can't hear you."

To the DUers I met and those that I missed seeing, thanks for giving a crap. :grouphug: Hope we can do it again sometime, though I also hope that someday we won't have to take to the streets in rebellion.

Some of my personal highlights:

Hanging with DUers, whether at dinner, on the Mall, on the march, or relaxing at Oaf of Office's and prolesunited's suite. (Sorry I couldn't stay for the pizza, but my energy was flagging.) There's something to be said about a group of people who can simultaneously converse about inane topics as well as complicated policy issues, all while keeping one eye on C-SPAN on the TV and grazing like locusts.

The Code Pink pink slip, just frick' huge, flying about 100 feet off the ground from an office building window.

The creativity shown in the signs and banners, costumes, and other signs of mobilization.

The Raging Grannies cracked my ass up, and a dead soldier's father left a lump in my throat.

Prolesunited deserves special thanks (or, as some say, mad props) for managing to herd all of us together before and during the event. :yourock: The name tags were a great touch.

[diamond14]

70. lost DUers in the huge crowd...and then I got 'drafted' to help more...

sorry I missed the after-protest party....but, it was GREAT to meet you on Friday night....makes me proud to 'see' DUers at the pre-protest dinner...inspiring, exhilerating...a GREAT March....yes, rising up from the "Belly of the Beast"....we will take OUR country back.....

special thanks to Prolesunited too...must be still working way home...

[veganwitch]

72. my day

i should be getting my pictures developed tomorrow or so.

got pictures of the snipers on the roofs of the building. found the black bloc and marched with them. took pictures of the police bringing in the calvary through the crowds of folk. a couple of flag burnings (funny thing, you can see my face in one that is posted on dc.indymedia.com) during the first "bloc up" i was linking up with a fella who could not get arrested because he had three warrants out for his arrest. i told him i couldnt get arrested because i had to in to work later that day (which i did and my boss got to see my "uniform").

i would like to thank boilerbabe for the cigarettes during the day.

on edit: i did end up getting drunk later that night so i was only a few hours off from when i told the jebus-freaks.

[deutsey]

74. I went down to the demonstration

to get my fair share of abuse (from the fundies and the freepers). Fortunately, there were tens of thousands of "us" there, compared to their dozens. AND there were all those pesky DU'ers crawling all over the place. :-)

I was a bit tired from organizing an event in my hometown earlier in the week and being awakened throughout the night before by two of my kids who have colds, but I am so glad I made it. Aside from the speechifying going on for too long (as it always does at ANSWER rallies), I thought it was a great day: wonderful weather, tens of thousands of people who actually give a damn about what's happening in our country and who came from all over to show it (we even saw parents of one of the Japanese teens killed by Bush's cronies on their submarine joy ride...remember that?), and getting to know DU'ers offline. What a great way to spend an autumn afternoon!

:hi:

[Kolesar]

75. The Vietnam Veterans in the march really touched me deep inside

They stopped on Constitution Avenue when the TV news crew found them. They recited this verse that I cannot recall completely, but I do recall that they said:

We know of what we speak,
For we have been there.

The Vietnam War was the formative event of my generation. It had even more impact on me and my peers than the Civil Rights movement that slightly predated it. I grew up in a period when Americans turned from being proud of America to not trusting our government. GOP/War Party message control has done a great job of erasing that message from America's short historical memory. We found new demons such as the Sandinistas, the Japanese competitors, Colonel Qaddaffi, and the old standby, the "evil empire" to focus our hatred on.

Well decades of inattention to current events has resulted in another unneeded war. Damn you, George Bush. Damn you, Ronald Reagan.

I have a feeling that the veteran's against the war movement may be the organization that should get money and support, because they have the message that can lead to the defeat of George Bush.

[lizerdbits]

76. I had a great time

It was nice to meet some people so I can put faces with some names. My legs are still sore but mainly because I'm an idiot and went jogging Saturday morning before going. I was so tired when I got back but I did get to the grocery store 10 minutes before closing.

[prolesunited]

77. Here's a thread with more details and pics of DUers

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=597157

And I appreciate the kudos on this thread. All of you are awesome and it was my pleasure! :D